'Survivor: Caramoan': Is there such thing as an un-fun blindside?

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Time to narrow down the “Survivor: Caramoan” castaways to the the Final Five, in preparation for the three-hour finale extravaganza on Sunday, May 12. Who do you think will make it? Let’s find out!

Madeline

Eddie knows he’s a sitting duck and when Cochran asks him who’s next if Eddie wins Immunity, Eddie says it’ll be Cochran — he’s a huge threat. Interesting that Eddie would point that out to him. Seems like you’d want to make Cochran feel safe.

Meanwhile, Brenda, Erik and Dawn all talk about taking Cochran down too. Ruh roh, Cochran. Even though we are hardly in favor of bringing back oldies all the time, like the show does just about every season now, we are really rooting for Cochran.

And now we get Erik’s bonkers pity-party. He’s obsessed with food, he says it’s like prison, he’s so miserable. Oh, please. Suck it up, wuss. You’re getting to live the dream and so, you’re a little hungry. Some people are for real hungry — all the time. Stop being such a whiner.

So Erik the genius decides he should climb a coconut tree for coconuts and he actually contemplates falling out of the tree and breaking his leg so he can leave the game. Seriously, rein it in, dude. It’s been a little over a month. You’re not in a concentration camp. Have some perspective.

Moving on.

It’s time for the annual loved ones visit! Get the tissues out. Why does this always make us cry? We were just lambasting Erik because it’s been slightly over a month, and yet we always cry like these castaways haven’t seen their families in three years.

You know, you think about those women who were kidnapped and things like that and this just seems so silly. But it gets us every. season.Reward Challenge

When Brenda’s dad comes out, she’s crying so hard and talking about being humble and Probst has to wipe away a tear — first time in 26 seasons, he says. Awww.

The challenge — Cochran’s mom apologizes before it even starts, awww again — is unscrewing rails to make you dizzy, then landing bolos on the rails. The winning pair gets to a BBQ on a boat.

The loved ones are struggling, particularly Arlene (Cochran’s mom) and Probst calls her out and Cochran yells, “Don’t say anything about my mom!” They are adorable.

Meanwhile, Erik and his brother are dominating the challenge at first. Not that siblings aren’t great — we love ours — but they just don’t seem as sentimental as some other pairs. We’re kind of rooting against them. Go Brenda and her dad!

In the end, Brenda’s dad wins it for them! She better take Dawn and Sherri on the reward. That’s who we’d take.

Brenda’s first pick is Dawn, but then she is handed a phone with “more love for everyone” and Brenda has a choice — one other castaway gets to go on the reward two loved ones, or she gets to give up her love and Dawn’s and the other four remaining castaways and their loved ones get the BBQ.

At the news her son is there, Sherri literally falls to her knees crying. Man, that’s a tough one. If you’re selfish, that’s probably a million dollars down the drain. I think I’d give it up — and Brenda does.

Dawn is pretty wrecked at the news.

The Reward

In a talking-head, Cochran confirms he’s not a virgin. Heh. We kid, we kid. Everybody has a great time with their loved ones. Cochran’s dad is the grillmaster, it’s totally adorable.

Back at camp, Dawn is not handling it well that she’s not on the reward with her husband. She’s also sad that Brenda earned all the good favor by giving up the reward, while Dawn is just out of luck without getting all the good favor. She’s not wrong.

Dawn eventually pulls herself together, which is good because one more meltdown would probably have her butt out the door.

Meanwhile, Cochran’s radar is pinging about getting Brenda out because her likability factor is so high right now. Should be an interesting Tribal, depending on who wins Immunity. Immunity Challenge

This challenge involves standing on a ledge and holding on to a handle behind their backs. The handle will lower them closer and closer to the water. Last person left wins. Brenda should be in pretty good shape to win this, actually. She’s decently strong and weighs like five pounds.

Eddie is convinced it’s his time to go if he doesn’t win, but he should see that it’s actually a great time to make a move. Not that he shouldn’t try to win, but he should work on people to get one of the big threats out.

Cochran is the first out, followed by Eddie and Erik. Sherri is struggling, while Dawn and Brenda look cool as cucumbers. And no sooner is Sherri out. Dawn then is begging Brenda to throw it to her, but Brenda should know better. She’s a huge threat to win and therefore needs the security.

And then Brenda drops. It looks like she couldn’t hang on, not that she threw it. She better not have, that would be dumb. Pre Tribal

Brenda thinks it’s pretty straightforward that Eddie is going home, but she should not count her chickens. Cochran wants Brenda out and starts working on Sherri first, who is actually already there with him. Dawn plays Devil’s advocate a little about staying the course because what if Eddie wins the final Immunity? But he’s not a threat to win the game and Brenda is.

And, per usual, nobody talks to Erik because nobody cares (or knows) where his head is at. Tribal Council

Eddie feels the pressure — it’s interesting the editing didn’t show him campaigning at all. You’d think he would have. Did he just not? Or was it just not included in the edit?

Hilariously, when Brenda’s sacrifice comes up, Dawn and Sherri both say Brenda has totally won everybody over with her choice. As they plot to possibly vote her off.

During the vote, we only see Brenda vote for Eddie. The votes go Eddie, Eddie, Erik, Brenda, Brenda and Brenda. Nooooo! Oh wow, that is harsh. She cries and says that it hurts on her way out. Yeah, that sucks. That was an un-fun blindside.

So Eddie voted for Erik. It’s a shame Brenda didn’t get a sense of what might be going down and work on his vote. Oh well.

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Posted by:Andrea Reiher

TV critic by way of law school, Andrea Reiher enjoys everything from highbrow drama to clever comedy to the best reality TV has to offer. Her TV heroes include CJ Cregg, Spencer Hastings, Diane Lockhart, Juliet O'Hara and Buffy Summers. TV words to live by: "I'm a slayer, ask me how."

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